Bell Shoals Baptist Church

With over 8,000 members, Bell Shoals Baptist Church has been classified as one of several megachurches in the United States.[1] The first campus in Brandon, Florida, started over 50 years ago, and there are now four other campuses: Congregación Hispana, Apollo Beach, Palm River, and Riverview.[2] According to the Brandon campus' senior pastor, Dr. Stephen Rummage, their vision is for "one church multiplied to transform West Central Florida with the Gospel". The mission statement of Bell Shoals Baptist Church is to "Follow Jesus. Love People. Make Disciples". As a church, they value the authority of the Bible, the example that Jesus Christ set on how to live, discipleship, and sharing the gospel.[3]

Beliefs

Bell Shoals Baptist Church is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention and teaches the basic beliefs that members of this convention agree on. The reason that this church and its many campuses follow the Bible closely is because they believe the Bible was inspired by God. In other words, they believe God is the author of the Bible; man just wrote down God’s words. Like most other Christian denominations, this church teaches that there is only one God who is triune – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.[4] They do, however, hold some unique beliefs that some members of other denominations do not:

  • Salvation is a free gift from God to those who have faith, not to those who solely perform good works.
  • Once someone has received salvation, it cannot be taken away from them.
  • Only men can be pastors.
  • Christians should submit their lives to God.
  • There is sanctity in all human life.
  • Church and state should be separate.[4]

History

Bell Shoals started as a handful of 17 men who met at Stowers Funeral Home in February 1961.[5] Shortly after, in March 1961, they acquired two acres (0.81 ha) of land to build their sanctuary, and 80 members joined.[5][6] There are now 8,000 members and four other campuses.[2] One of their campuses, Bell Shoals Baptist Apollo Beach, started with 12 members and now has over 400 members. [7]

John Russell was the first pastor of this church. Before coming to Bell Shoals, he preached at West Haven Baptist Church in Tennessee. He went to Troy State University, Samford University, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.[5] The next pastor, Forrest Pollock, was killed in a plane crash on May 12, 2008. His son Preston, who was 13 years old, was also killed in the accident. Pollock was on his way to his mother’s home to visit her on Mother’s Day and planned to go to a preaching engagement with a friend in Texas. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma and had a master of divinity and doctor of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Before serving as the pastor at Bell Shoals, Pollock was the pastor at Istrouma Baptist Church and Rosen Heights Baptist Church. He was also the president of the Large Church Roundtable and a member of the Resolutions Committee, the Committee on Committees, and the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life.[8] Dr. Stephen Rummage is currently the pastor of this church.[1]

Pastor

Stephen Rummage holds a M.Div. from Southeastern Seminary and a Ph.D. in preaching and theology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminar. For over 7 years, Rummage taught as the professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest.[1] Before coming to Bell Shoals, he preached at Hickory Grove Baptist Church, which has 16,000 members, so he was not subdued by the idea of teaching in front of Bell Shoals' 8,000 members.[9] Rummage has created his own radio ministry called Moving Forward.[1] He has also been the president of the Florida Baptist State Convention since 2016.[10]

Community Engagement

Bell Shoals has children, youth and adult ministries.[11] They emphasize the importance of small groups so that people can connect.[11] Discipleship is also highly valued at this church; they believe that Jesus commands people to go and make disciples.[12] There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities at Bell Shoals, from tech support to child care.[13] Lastly, community engagement is important to Bell Shoals Baptist Church. They have partnered with and created several ministries:

  • Hearts and Hammers does home repairs for those who are physically unable to do so on their own.
  • Real Hope Ministries opens a food pantry to the community every Wednesday.
  • HOPE Ministries accompanies adults and children with special needs while their care-takers attend church.
  • Celebrate Recovery has several classes at Bell Shoals for people struggling with addictions.
  • Morning Glories is a ministry for widows.
  • Bell Shoals has a Disaster Relief Ministry with over 100 members who are trained and certified in areas such as food preparation and emergency response.
  • In their community, Bell Shoals has partnered with Give 'em Heaven Ministries, Good Samaritan Mission, Manna on Wheels, Metropolitan Ministries, the Community Issues Council, Friends of Internationals, LifeCare Network, Tampa Port Ministries, Inc. and Workplace Paracletes.
  • In Florida, Bell Shoals has partnered with Florida Baptists Children’s Homes, SEND Miami and Word to Works.[14]

Bell Shoals has also brought the community together by hosting concerts and large Christmas productions. In 2013, Bell Shoals hosted a concert featuring Natalie Grant and Grammy Winner Sandi Patty.[15] In December 2017, Bell Shoals hosted its animal Christmas production, which featured Mac McConnell, a 175-person choir and a 35-piece orchestra.[16] In February 2018, Bell Shoals held a concert featuring American Idol finalists Scott MacIntyre and Jeremy Rosado to raise money for the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria.[17]

Global Outreach

Bell Shoals Baptist Church has sent missionaries all over the world. Every year, Bell Shoals hosts a Global Outreach Celebration to spread awareness about different places that people can go and share their faith. In 2018, missionaries from Toronto, Haiti, Cuba, Central America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa were a part of the conference.[18] For 15 years, teams from Bell Shoals have been traveling to Curitiba, Brazil to partner with Projeto Vida, a group of traveling missionaries.[19]

Politics

In 2007, protests gathered around Bell Shoals Baptist Church and accused the church of discriminating against gay men and woman. At the time, Forrest Pollock was pastor. He denied these claims and invited the people to attend church.[20]

Bell Shoals Baptist Church has hosted several candidates forums. In 2014, candidates' answers to questionnaires that Bell Shoals sent out to voters raised controversy. While some politicians saw this as a violation of law, Bell Shoals claimed that they were not endorsing any candidates, just educating voters on the political stances of their candidates.[21]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Our Senior Pastor | Bell Shoals Baptist Church". bellshoals.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  2. 1 2 "I'm New | Bell Shoals Baptist Church". bellshoals.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  3. ↑ "Our Vision | Bell Shoals Baptist Church". bellshoals.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  4. 1 2 "Our Beliefs | Bell Shoals Baptist Church". www.bellshoals.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  5. 1 2 Reeder, Adam (March 2, 2002). "Bell Shoals Baptist Church". St. Petersburg Times.
  6. ↑ Drew, Connie (April 12, 2003). "Bell Shoals Baptist Church". St. Petersburg Times.
  7. ↑ "Larger churches find success starting smaller campuses". TBO.com. 2014-03-30. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  8. ↑ Staff. "Forrest Pollock, son killed in plane crash". www.bpnews.net. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  9. ↑ "Pastor to lead tragedy-stricken church". TBO.com. 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  10. ↑ "FBSC Messengers elect Rummage as president, endorse Green's vision - Florida Baptist Convention | FBC". flbaptist.org. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  11. 1 2 "LIFE Groups at Bell Shoals | Bell Shoals Baptist Church". bellshoals.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  12. ↑ "Discipleship | Bell Shoals Baptist Church". bellshoals.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  13. ↑ "Serve | Bell Shoals Baptist Church". bellshoals.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  14. ↑ "Missional Living | Bell Shoals Baptist Church". bellshoals.com. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  15. ↑ "Tampa Bay's Night of Inspiration: Natalie Grant and Grammy Winner Sandi Patty LIVE in Concert, August 3 at Bell Shoals Baptist Church". PR Newswire. July 18, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Bell Shoals Baptist Church Presents Wonder: A Christmas Experience - Osprey Observer". Osprey Observer. 2017-11-01. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  17. ↑ "American Idol Finalists Perform At Benefit Concert For Hurricane Victims - Osprey Observer". Osprey Observer. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  18. ↑ "God Is On The Move At Bell Shoals Baptist Church - Osprey Observer". Osprey Observer. 2017-09-01. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  19. ↑ "Bell Shoals' Youth Travel To Brazil For A Mission Trip - Osprey Observer". Osprey Observer. 2017-04-24. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  20. ↑ "From You Your Voices". The Tampa Tribune.
  21. ↑ "Gay rights? Abortion? Bell Shoals church asks politicians for one-word stance". 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2018-04-17.

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